


sympathetic star

by hero_is_here



Series: frame the halves and call them brothers [3]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Dream Smp, Eret and Toby Smith | Tubbo are Siblings, Fox Hybrid Floris | Fundy, Gen, Mentioned Luke | Punz, Mentioned Niki | Nihachu, Mentioned Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Older Sibling Wilbur Soot, Platonic Hand Holding, They/Them Pronouns for Eret (Video Blogging RPF), Trans Floris | Fundy, Wilbur Soot and TommyInnit are Siblings, Wilbur Soot-centric, Winged TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), also transmasc enby author, dream is a bit of a bastard, i enjoy writing banter if you cant tell, using she/her for fundy this fic so sorry but he comes out in the next one i promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 06:48:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29364255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hero_is_here/pseuds/hero_is_here
Summary: “Wil?” Eret’s voice is confused from outside the van. Wilbur looks away from the brewing stand to poke his head out of the window.“Yeah, what’s up?” Wilbur asks, focusing on Eret’s puzzled face while looking through one of the outside chests.“We’re missing things,” Eret looks up at their friend in the van. “Like, food mostly.”Wilbur shrugs. “It’s probably just Tommy. I doubt his whole “living off carrots” idea isn’t going too well,” he snorts. Eret frowns.“I figure he would have said, but… maybe.”ORdream visits wilbur and eret's new business, wilbur finds a feral animal, and an old friend comes to visit.[title from "there's something happening" by jack stauber.]
Relationships: Eret & Floris | Fundy, Eret & Wilbur Soot, Floris | Fundy & Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Floris | Fundy & Wilbur Soot, Jschlatt & Wilbur Soot, No Romantic Relationship(s)
Series: frame the halves and call them brothers [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2113689
Comments: 2
Kudos: 67





	sympathetic star

**Author's Note:**

> wheeeeew finally plot stuff for this series. one more filler thing before big plot thing. also probably the last wilbur-centric fic of this series. it's erets time to shine now.
> 
> tw: not much, other than like a child in distress (THEY ARE OKAY THOUGH THEY ARE JUST SCARED), and possible manipulation???

After moving into the Dream SMP, Wilbur and Eret converted the van into more of a shop than a home, and usually sleep in tents around it. Only after helping the boys make their own houses, of course. The pair had multiple brewing stands set up on counters, chests full of potions and ingredients. Wilbur set up shop pretty soon after they stopped moving. 

“Where did you learn to do this stuff?” Eret asks as Wilbur measures a certain amount of gunpowder.

Wilbur squints his eyes, trying to remember. “I think my mom taught me? Not sure. I really just remember me and a couple friends scamming with potions.” He shrugs. 

“You used to scam?”

“Oh, I did more than scam,” Wilbur laughs, seeing Eret’s concerned face. Eret had been getting a lot more comfortable around their friend, not even bothering to wear the sunglasses in the van anymore. “Once, me and Sch- a friend actually got arrested. We didn’t technically steal anything, but breaking and entering and all that.”

Eret looks at Wilbur suspiciously, as if trying to figure out if he is telling the truth or not.

“You never committed a crime?” he asks, grinning.

“No? I mean, I can barely use a sword and you expect me to be a mastermind criminal?” Eret jokes. “Well, I did commit arson once, but that hardly counts.”

“Th- that hardly counts?” Wilbur sputtered. “That definitely counts.”

“Shouldn’t have been homophobic, then. Call that shit an LGBBQ,” Eret laughs at their own joke, while Wilbur shakes his head. 

A knock on the van door breaks both of them from their conversation. Wilbur dumps the gunpowder and goes to open the door. Eret stays in the main room, but listens out. 

A familiar masked face stands on the outside of the van. Wilbur puts on a fake grin. Of course, he’s very thankful that Dream allows him to stay in the land, but the masked man gives him the creeps.

“Dream! What can I do for you?” Wilbur easily puts on a faux friendly voice. 

“Wilbur,” Dream draws out his name. “I was hoping to talk to you about your… little business here.”

Wilbur nails dig into his palms. Was he about to get yelled at? “Oh?”

“Yeah. Potions, right? Sap and Punz told me about it a little bit. You know, I kind of run this place.”

“Yes, of course, it’s named after you, after all.”

“Right. So, this place doesn't run on imagination. I do need to collect taxes, on occasion. And while I don’t usually do this for a regular citizen, you did start a whole business without asking, so, I am gonna ask for a bit.”

“What do you mean by a bit?” Wilbur swallowed nervously. Dream looks at him, and Wilbur can see the grin without seeing his face.

* * *

  
  


“Wil?” Eret’s voice is confused from outside the van. Wilbur looks away from the brewing stand to poke his head out of the window.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Wilbur asks, focusing on Eret’s puzzled face while looking through one of the outside chests. 

“We’re missing things,” Eret looks up at their friend in the van. “Like, food mostly.”

Wilbur shrugs. “It’s probably just Tommy. I doubt his whole “living off carrots” idea isn’t going too well,” he snorts. Eret frowns.

“I figure he would have said, but… maybe.” 

Wilbur continues thinking it’s Tommy until a few nights later, when he hears rustling outside the tent. He peeks out and sees a small figure halfway in the chest. “Oi!” Wilbur shouts. The figure slams their head on the chest and turns to see Wilbur. Their eyes glow slightly, in that strange animal way. They take off as Wilbur watches.

“Shit,” Wilbur whispers, before going to shake Eret awake. “We’ve got a pest problem.”

The next few nights, Wilbur waits, barely looking out at the chest. It’s an old-fashioned trap, one Technoblade taught him when he was young. A small noose on the ground. When something steps in, you yank it, and they are trapped. Easy enough. 

The potions business suffers as Wilbur sleeps through the day after staying up at night. Eret is good with the selling part, but not so well with the making of the potions. 

On the fifth night, the figure returns and awakes a half sleeping Wilbur. He watches, before yanking the rope. He hears a small yelp before gripping the rope tight and yanking the figure upside down. The figure- which Wilbur can now make out as a child, screeches at him. They swipe at him with claws, but he holds them at a distance.

Wilbur feels immediate guilt. This is just a hungry kid. He turns to the tents to see Eret poking their head out now as well. 

“I’m gonna put you down, but don’t run,” Wilbur tells the child. Their mouth forms a snarl, but no sound comes out. He lowers them onto the ground and the child hops onto their feet and backs away. Wilbur can get a somewhat better look now. Their torn clothes barely hang onto thin shoulders, ginger ears poke out through matted hair.  _ Another hybrid _ , Wilbur tells himself. A fox, possibly? “Oh! Eret, where are the sweet berries?”

Wilbur leads the child into the van, with the promise of berries. The child reaches for the berries with big eyes. Once in the van, Wilbur motions to Eret to close the door before putting the berries in reach of the kid. They snatch at the fruit and munch happily. Wilbur sits down at a short distance from them, but close enough for them to eye him suspiciously.

“Can you speak?” he asks. The child just looks. Wilbur takes that as a no. “Can you understand me?” The child looks at Eret, then back at Wilbur. They seem to think for a moment, before slowly nodding. 

“Where are your parents?” Eret asks, causing the child to whip their head towards them. The child looks at the berries in their hands, then back up at the two, and shakes their head.

Wilbur feels a pang in his heart, and he figures this is the same feeling that led him into adopting Eret and Tubbo into his family. He looks back at Eret, frowning. Eret crosses their arms. “You wanna take care of  _ another  _ kid?”

“I mean, I think they're older than the boys, anyway.” Wilbur inspects the child from his spot, and the child backs away a bit. “I mean, teaching them to speak is gonna be difficult, but you know. I miss having the boys around.”

Eret snorts. “Nineteen years old and already an empty nester,” they joke and Wilbur rolls his eyes. “They’re around nearly everyday, anyway.”

“I know, but they aren’t  _ around _ , you know?” 

Eret shrugs. “Well, you have fun bonding with the feral fox child. I’m going back to bed.”

Wilbur nods, before looking back at the child. They squint their eyes at him and frown. 

When Eret gets up to open up the shop, Wilbur is passed out sitting up, with the child’s head in his lap. The sight twists their heart in such a way, they would be mad if they didn’t adopt this kid. Wilbur rouses and squints his eyes at Eret.

“Morning,” Eret whispers. Wilbur makes an indecipherable sound in response.

“Was thinkin’ of names,” Wilbur says quietly, and his friend raises an eyebrow.

“So, we’re keeping them?”

“Her. Pretty sure ‘s a girl. So, yeah.”

Eret can’t help but smile. “Aw, you’re a dad.”

“Shut it,” Wilbur says, pink dusting his cheeks.

“So, names?”

“If I ever had a kid, I wanted to name them after plants-” Wilbur is interrupted by Eret’s sharp laugh. “What?”   
  


“Didn’t realize you were such a hippie.”   
  


Wilbur rolls his eyes. “ _ So _ ,” he continues. “I was thinking like a flower name. Like, Rose or Lily or something like that.”

Eret makes a face at both those names. “What about… Ginger?”

“Oh, that fucking sucks.”

They put their hands on their hips as Wilbur grows a shit-eating grin. 

“Okay, fine, how’s- hm, how’s Fleur?”

Wilbur seems to think for a moment. “I… don’t hate it.”

“Then it’s decided,” Eret says as they open up a large window. The child- Fleur- blinks her eyes at the light now streaming into the van. She clings to Wilbur as she sees Eret, but Wil pats her head and says that Eret is good. She nods and closes her eyes once more.

* * *

“C’mon, Fleur!” Tommy shouts and laughs as she sprints towards him. The breath is knocked out of the boy when she pounces on his with a cackle.

“Suck it, Tommy!” she grins and runs away. The blond groans before running after Tubbo, knowing it would be so much easier to catch him than Fleur.

Wilbur watches from the shop window. He snorts as Tommy whips into the air and slams into Tubbo. The brown haired boy yelps and Tommy is up in the air again, laughing. He’s really glad with the progress they’ve made with Fleur in the last year and a half. She speaks, plays with the boys, occasionally interacts with someone not in their little family. And her hair is finally getting long enough to braid. It’s the only hairstyle Wilbur knows how to do, after years of braiding his own mother’s hair when he was very young. 

He looks down at the letter he is writing. Another one to Niki. He may have been gone from home for nearly five years, but he still stays in contact with his two oldest friends. At least, as well as he can. Even with Eret’s help, taking care of three children and selling potions is not as easy as it may seem. 

Eret is tending to their netherwart farm, behind the van. Or they were, last time Wilbur checked. 

While lost in thought, he notices the kids stop playing to look at the path. Two figures are approaching from the Dream SMP. Wilbur squints his eyes. He makes out the figure of Sapnap, pointing another man to the lake in which they have made their home. Wilbur quickly makes his way out of the van, trying to get a better look. He hears Tommy gasp and zoom to the shorter man, bouncing excitedly and grabbing at his hand to drag him to the van.

“Wilby! Look!” Tommy shouts at Wilbur. As he stares at the shorter man, he stares back. Wilbur slots memory together. Sheep horns, shit-eating grin, and Wilbur sharply inhales.

“Wh- Schlatt?” Wilbur wonders aloud.

“Hiya, loverboy,” Schlatt grins, but the nervousness is evident in his eyes. It feels like the world is slow for just a moment, and Wilbur tackles his old friend in a hug. Schlatt coughs as he is squeezed tightly by the taller boy.

“Holy shit,” Wilbur whispers.

“Agh- Wil-” Schlatt wheezes. Wilbur laughs and loosens his grip ever so slightly. Schlatt reaches his arms around him, no longer taken off guard. “Alright, enough lovey-dovey shit.”

Wilbur releases the ram, still grinning like a madman. He looks to see Eret, eyebrow raised, Tubbo looking at Schlatt with obvious confusion, and Fleur somewhat hiding behind Eret. She really isn’t a fan of new people. 

“Oh, this is Jay Schlatt. My best friend when I was younger,” Wilbur fills the rest of his family in. 

“The fuckin’ coolest guy ever!” Tommy shouts, earning a glare from his older brother. He mutters a half-assed apology. 

“This is Eret, Tubbo, and Fleur. My, uh, family,” Wilbur points everyone out respectively. Fleur ducks her head, Tubbo grins, and Eret continues looking at the man suspiciously. “C’mon, let me show you around the land.”

Wilbur and Schlatt click together, just like old times. They joke about scamming and getting arrested, a bit quieter so the children don’t hear. Wilbur tells Schlatt about meeting Eret and Tubbo, starting up a potion business, and adopting Fleur. Schlatt tells Wilbur about the passing of his parents in a shipwreck, Puffy finally going out to sea, and being a general conman. Wilbur rolls his eyes, there’s no way Schlatt would have ended up any other way. 

Wilbur and Schlatt have sent a few letters, but Schlatt isn’t as good at responding as Niki is. It’s just like they haven’t spoken to each in years. The tour gathers a few residents of the Dream SMP, curious to the newcomer. Eventually, the tour is cut short, as Dream stands in front of them near the Community House.

Wilbur puts on his best customer service smile. “Hello, Dr-”

“Who’s this?” Dream’s masked face stares at Schlatt. He nervously looks to Wilbur.

“This is an old friend of mine, Schlatt,” Wilbur says carefully. The years in the Dream SMP have basically shown him it’s best to keep the masked man calm.

“I don’t remember inviting him in.”

“I- uh-” Wilbur looks at Sapnap, who he remembers pointing Schlatt to the van. He has no clue how the man actually got it. Sapnap immediately looks away. Of course. “I didn’t know you hadn’t invited him.” It’s technically the truth.

Dream’s hands squeeze into fists. “I don’t like shit happening without my permission,” he says, and it feels like a warning. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to escort your friend out.”

“What the hell,” Schlatt remarks, looking at Wilbur. “You’re just gonna let this guy tell you what to do.”

Wilbur’s lips form a tight line. He looks at Schlatt and shakes his head. Tommy looks up with pleading eyes from his side. Dream roughly grabs the ram’s shoulder and pushes him towards the entrance of the Dream SMP. 

“Are you fucking serious?” he hears Schlatt’s raised voice. Wilbur does not look up at his old friend as he is escorted out. 

Eret gently reaches for Wilbur’s hand and pulls him away from the crowd. Wilbur looks up when he’s being led down the path, to the van. The three youngest are also trailing behind awkwardly. 

“He’s- We have no control,” Wilbur whispers in the comfort of the van. Eret sighs as they replace the potions in brewing stands with water bottles.

“Wil-”

“No. He is in control of everything. No one has free will.”

“He’s not a god, Wil. We can do whatever we want.”

“He sure thinks he is. We need to knock him down a peg,” Wilbur grits his teeth.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Wilbur,” Eret frowns at their friend.

“This isn’t gonna be something you can sit out, Eret,” he looks up from the floor into white eyes. “You have to be with me.”

Eret chews on their cheek. “I- I need to think about it.”

Wilbur simply nods and looks back down at the floor. He doesn’t intend to let this go.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: hero-is-here  
> Twitter: heroishere0
> 
> leave a comment if you'd like, they always make me happy. also, check out my other stories (esp the other ones in this series). thank you for reading!


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